


Well hows your view of things today?

by Queenofthebees



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Retail, Eventual Smut, F/M, Family Fluff, Jon and Sansa Are Not Related, Jon and the Starks Are Not Related, Scotland, Slow Burn, Student Sansa, Virgin Sansa Stark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-03 22:31:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13350867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queenofthebees/pseuds/Queenofthebees
Summary: Their conversations had never lasted much longer than five minutes. And yet she feels that he knows her better than anyone else, that she could talk to him about anything and everything.Too bad she is certain he is definitely in a relationship. His shopping habits make that clear!Or the modern retail setting love story AU that nobody asked for!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> When you're discussing GoT and Jonsa at work, this is what happens lol  
> One of my colleagues actually did end up with one of the regular customers so yay, thanks to them for giving me more Jonsa prompts ...*sobs behind closed doors* I am forever going to be writing WIPs :P
> 
> Title from the song 'Bubbles' by Biffy Clyro

"Staff announcement, Sansa to till 4 please!"

Sansa grabbed the box of candles she had been putting out on the shelf and quickly put it back on the cage before she darted down the aisle. She steered through the line of people as she made her way towards her till.

"Next person over here please!" she called, taking the closed sign off and zapping her badge on the scanner to sign on.

 The elderly man threw his things down on the conveyer belt, ignoring Sansa’s cheery greeting. When she asked if he needed a hand to pack, he wordlessly threw his bag in her direction. Sansa exhaled slowly, keeping the smile on her lips as she took the bag.

“Fucking children,” the man grumbled. “Should just move out already, sick of them in my house.”

Sansa said nothing, keeping herself focussed on packing the man’s shopping. She placed the bag at the end of the checkout and turned to her screen, hitting the total button.

“So that is twenty pounds seventy-nine please sir,” she commented brightly, tucking a hair behind her ears.

“Fuck sake,” the man growled throwing a twenty pound note and a pound coin towards her. Sansa blinked at the money for a second before picking it up and pressing the buttons on the till to open the drawer. She gave the man his change with another bright smile and cheerful goodbye before turning to the next customer.

The rest of her line was much nicer and polite. Eventually, as her queue disappeared she glanced behind her at Myranda on the main till who gave her a smile and a nod. Sansa ducked down to get her closed sign, moving to put it on when a man appeared at the end of the conveyor belt.

“Oh sorry!” he said, holding a hand up and stepping away from the till.

“No, it is okay I can get you here,” she replied. She preferred being on the tills to the shop floor anyway if truth be told. She enjoyed talking to people so she would take any opportunity to stay away from the boxes on the shop floor. “I’ll just put this up behind your shopping.”

“Thanks,” he smiled as he shoved his basket under the till and moved to the other side.

“Do you need a hand to pack today?”

“No, I should be alright, thanks.”

“Spring cleaning?” she asked as she scanned through the bleach, the window cleaner and the wipes in quick succession.

“Um yeah. I just moved into town, Perth Road area. So, just cleaning the house out.”

“Fun weekend for you then,” she teased as she handed him the bin bags she had scanned.

“Yup, well at least there will be pizza later. That makes it all good right?”

“Pizza is life,” Sansa affirmed with a grin as she turned to press the total button. “No pineapple though!”

“Absolutely not!” he replied with a smile, his grey eyes twinkling as he looked back at her. Sansa looked back at her screen.

“That is nine pounds thirty please sir.”

“I’ll pay by card thanks,” he said, holding the card up to show her. She nodded, gesturing to the card machine in front of her. He pressed the card against the surface, giving her a small smile when the beep echoed between them. She handed him his receipt with a smile.

“Have fun with your cleaning,” she commented brightly. “And enjoy your pizza!”

“Thanks,” he grinned and then glanced at her name badge. “Have a nice day, Sansa.”

She smiled again as he left before pressing the sign out button on the screen. She turned away from the till, moving around to the other side to get her baskets, catching Myranda’s smirk as she did so. She raised her eyebrows in question as she came over to collect the baskets under her friends’ till.

“You always get the cute ones through your till,” Myranda teased. Sansa scoffed as she waddled to place the baskets in the pile by the door. “He was hot! Did you see the muscles on his arms? Bet he could hold someone against the wall no problem!”

“Not interested!” Sansa chimed, ignoring Myranda’s eyeroll.

“You don’t know what you’re missing sweetie,” her friend called after her as Sansa returned to her aisle.

It wasn’t that Sansa was opposed to having a relationship, someday she would love to get married and have kids, the whole traditional stuff. It was just that, right now, it wasn’t a priority. She had been on dates with mixed success. Some were downright awful with rude, sleazy men, some were nice guys but there was just no spark, and some were nice but didn’t seem interested in taking it anywhere. She had decided that for now, she would focus on finishing her university course.

She picked up the opened candles box and made her way back to the shelves. As she moved the vanilla Yankee candles aside to make room, she felt a light tap on her shoulder and glanced behind her to see her friend Margaery grinning at her, her box cutter being tossed between her hands.

“Need a hand?” her friend asked with a knowing smile. Sansa rolled her eyes, her own lips twitching.

“I don’t know how you got employee of the month!” Sansa teased. “When you aren’t chatting, you’re being a bad influence on everyone else!”

“Hey!” Margaery replied, already making her way to the cage at the top of the aisle. She turned around, walking backwards as she addressed Sansa. “If you can’t chat to your colleagues what is even the point? We wouldn’t be friends if it weren’t for this place you know!”

“Just when I thought I had all the reasons for hating this place!” Sansa sighed dramatically, grinning when her friend gave her the finger.

“Come out tonight!” Margaery said after a moment. Sansa groaned, shaking her head.

“I have an essay to finish,” she replied with a sigh.

“You work too hard,” Margaery commented, patting Sansa’s shoulder as she passed. “One day I am going to drag you to the pub with us.”

“I don’t think I will ever be able to handle a night out with you and Myranda,” Sansa laughed, picking up her empty box and slicing through the bottom to flatten it.

“It is a night to remember,” Margaery quipped, and then she frowned. “Well, actually we don’t tend to remember anything.”

“See?” Sansa teased. “What if I meet the man of my dreams on one of these nights out and then don’t even remember him the next morning! And then we’d see each other somewhere and not recognise each other so we’d have wasted an opportunity. That would just make me depressed! ”

Margaery glanced at her, giving a small shake of her head even as her lips curled into a warm smile.

“For someone who claims she has no time for a relationship you sure are a romantic,” she replied eventually, pulling Sansa’s braid affectionately. She grinned over her shoulder, sending Sansa a playful wink. “Maybe you’ve already met your man and don’t know it yet.”


	2. Chapter 2

"Shit, shit, shit!" Sansa growled as she grabbed her keys from the bowl and hurried out of the door.

She never usually slept in and she hadn't even been up late last night. She supposed those library nights were taking their toll after all when she hit cancel instead of snooze.

She would still make it for her eight o clock start, there was a bus directly opposite her flat that went past her work. She usually liked to walk into town but she supposed she couldn't be choosy this morning. At least it wasn't raining or snowing she thought as she raced down the concrete steps of her building and out onto the street.

It was still dark out and Sansa hated it. She could tolerate the long dark nights and shorter days before Christmas because of all the pretty lights and the general excitement for the holiday. But by January, the cold and rain, the lack of money as well as going back to her classes and realising how behind she was always made her depressed.

She sighed again as she took a seat on the bus, giving the fare amount to the conductor. She hoped her break would be a little earlier today since she had only managed to eat one slice of toast and half a cup of tea. She screwed her face up as she thought of the food options at work - crisps, biscuits and sweets. So much for her January health kick!

She managed to get into the back of the shop with five minutes to spare, quickly running through to the shop floor to clock in on the tills.

"Morning Sansa," Tyrion greeted as he passed her towards the cash office. "You may need to go tills first thing as Sam is a bit behind with things here."

"Yeah okay," Sansa said. "I'm just going to dump my things and I'll be straight back through."

"Hey Sans," Dickon greeted brightly as he shifted boxes in the warehouse. Sansa smiled and waved as she walked to her locker and shoved her bag and coat inside. She closed the door and then realised she had forgotten to take her box cutter, opening it again to get the item.

"You on all day?" she asked as she locked her locker once more.

"Until two," he replied.

"Woohoo! Two o clock club!" she grinned, pushing the door to go back onto the shop floor.

Tyrion was by the doors waiting as she signed on her till before he unlocked them and pressed the button to bring the shutter up. She helped him move the lottery and promotion signs outside before she went beneath the till to get some bags to put on the packing area.

It was always slow first thing in the morning and she usually gave the conveyor belts a quick clean for something to do. She served a few of the school children, wondering briefly if she had always bought so much sweets and juice before breakfast. But with her mother being a dentist, she doubted it. She always felt that Catelyn Stark just seemed to know if her children had been drinking fizzy drinks or eating some sweet treat. Her mother was very strict about her children having healthy teeth and they only got sweets, cakes and fizzy drinks on special occasions such as birthdays, Easter and Christmas. Sansa supposed it wasn't the worst thing to be strict over, everyone needed their teeth after all!

She has never told her mother how many sugary things she eats nowadays.

She smiled as one of her favourite customers came along. Annette, as she had heard her being called, was a sweet old lady. She was always kind and polite to the workers and would give a box of chocolates to whoever served her every Saturday for them all to share. Sansa wasn't sure how old she was but would have roughly guessed in her nineties going by the lines on her face and the dull grey of her hair. But she was still so alert and moving ably and Sansa admired that.

"Cats are a pain," Annette grinned as she put the box of Whiskers biscuits on the belt.

"Aww, I'm sure Hendrix is not a pain at all," Sansa teased.

"Decided he not longer likes the biscuits he has always eaten before," Annette sniffed, shaking her head. "Should kick the bugger out and let him fend for himself."

"You'd miss him within five minutes," Sansa chuckled, taking the five pound note from her.

"Yeah, I would," Annette agreed with a smile as she gestured to the change in Sansa's hand.  "Keep the change dear."

"I'll put it in the charity," Sansa replied, waving her away.

Myranda waved cheerfully as she came through the doors, pulling her headphones out as she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

"I watched that Rob Roy movie you were on about," she said as she moved through the till and dug for her purse.

"What did you think?"

"Liam Neeson was hot."

"Anything about the story?" Sansa asked teasingly as she held her hand out for the coins Myranda was passing her.

"I did actually like it," Myranda replied, taking the bottle and moving around the back of the till, making her way through to the back of the store.

Once Myranda came down again, Sansa logged off her till and went to collect one of the cages from the warehouse. She parked it at the top of the pets aisle, tying her rubbish bag to the side before she grabbed a box of cat biscuits to put out on the shelf.

"Um, excuse me."

She turned at the deep southern voice, instantly recognising the grey-eyed, curly-haired man from the week before. 

"Hi," she greeted, shifting the box to rest on her side as she spoke.

"Do you guys sell photo frames?" he asked.

"Yeah, this way," she replied, moving past him and leading him along three aisles until they came to the one with the photo frames. She pointed to this display and turned to him with a smile. "There you go."

"Great," he smiled, taking one of the frames in front of him and frowning at it. He gave her a nervous laugh. "Sorry, just trying to imagine the picture in there."

"No problem," she said with a smile. "You can always bring it back if it is not the right size, as long as you have a receipt."

"Huh," he replied distractedly and then he grinned. "And they told me that you Scots were all mean."

"Hmm, that is an English accent right enough," she teased. "But you know what, just to prove we can be nice, I'll stand by the decision to let you have the refund if needed."

"The lady is too kind," he laughed. "Thanks for your help."

"No problem," she smiled as she shifted the box again, holding it between her hands as she returned to her cage.

As another hour went passed, her stomach started to rumble and she started checking her watch repeatedly, waiting for half past ten so she could take her thirty minute break. Of course, the more she looked at it, the slower time seemed to go.

"Sansa Stark!"

She turned, immediately colliding with a firm chest, her hands coming up to steady herself.

"Theon!"

"Can't keep your hands off me eh?" Theon grinned. "If that is your reaction when I'm away for a month, I'd love to see how you'd react if I was away for a year!"

"When did you get back?" she asked, quickly grabbing another box to put out so she was still working should management come around.

"Yesterday," he replied. "I'm meeting up with Robb tonight actually. You coming out?"

She felt her mouth twist at the question. Robb lived in the city too but she hadn't seen him since Christmas three weeks ago. She had been so busy trying to get her dissertation started as well as her other coursework, and he had been swamped with his work. The thought of seeing him was appealing. However, she had once again just told Margaery at the weekend that she couldn't justify going out.

"I would love to see him," she said honestly. "But you guys should have your own night. I'll maybe catch up with him next week."

"Well, if you're sure," Theon shrugged, giving her another grin. "I'll see you around no doubt. Hope you enjoy work!"

She gave him the finger for his sarcasm, his booming laugh echoing along the aisle as he headed to the checkouts. Sansa sighed, checking her watch once more and grinned as she saw it was finally time for her break.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, um...I kinda forgot about this chapter draft lol.  
> But i extended the chapter a little to make up for the wait. Just to say it is a little behind, since it is still around Valentines Day in the timeline.

“Your brother is here!” Mya commented when Sansa came through the door.

“Oh?” Sansa responded, kicking off her shoes and pulling her scarf off. She wandered through to the living room, unbuttoning her jacket as she went.

Robb stood when she entered the room, crossing the floor to wrap her in a tight hug.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you in ages,” he remarked, placing his hands on her shoulders as he regarded her. “So, I thought I would come and check you hadn’t been murdered.”

“You would wait four weeks before checking if I was murdered? Thanks bro,” she replied, hitting his arm. “Do you want a cup of tea?” she asked, already turning to the kitchen.

“Sure.”

“Sans, I’m off to work,” Mya called from the door.

“Bye,” Sansa shouted back, as she flicked the kettle on and reached up to get two cups down from the cupboard, tossing a couple of teabags in her teapot.

Robb shuffled into the kitchen, taking a seat at the little wooden table in the corner. She glanced over at him, catching his frown as he ran his hand over the pile of textbooks that she had stacked up there.

“You’ll make yourself ill, working this hard,” he muttered.

“I want to come out with a first,” she insisted. “I know I can do it.”

“I know you are smart enough to do it,” Robb agreed. “But..just…don’t make yourself ill for a degree,” he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms as he regarded her. “Let me take you out for dinner or something.”

“I’ve got plenty of things made for the week,” she replied, pouring the water from the newly boiled kettle into the teapot.

“Come on, I want to treat my little sister,” Robb insisted, coming up behind her to grab her shoulders. “My little sister who I never see anymore. I might forget your face or your name if this carries on much longer!”

“Urgh, fine,” she sighed, shaking her head as she went to get the milk from the fridge. Robb’s phone suddenly buzzed and he glanced at it.

“Sorry, got to take this,” he said, picking the device up. “We had a new teacher join the team last week so we’re swapping project stuff around. Excuse me,” he swiped the phone as he left the room towards the privacy of the living room, “Hey Jon, what’s up?”

She poured the milk into the cups and poured the tea into each of them. She returned the milk to the fridge and went back to the counter, adding two sugars to each mug. Robb came back through as she was stirring his tea.

“Sorry about that,” he said, taking the cup, she was handing him. He took a sip, making a satisfied sound before he gestured towards her. “So, what time suits?”

“Um, I can do weekend evenings as I don’t work until one pm on Sundays,” she replied. “I’m guessing weekends are better for you with your work?”

“Yeah,” he replied, taking another drink of his tea. “So, shall we say next Saturday? We can go for a cheeky Nandos.”

Sansa rolled her eyes at him over the rim of her cup.

“That is hardly playing fair,” she teased. “You know how much I love Nandos!”

“I do because you’re my little sister,” he replied, reaching out to wrap an arm around her shoulder. “I’ve got to look after you and make sure you’re happy,” he squeezed her shoulders, “And if that means having to go to Nandos,” he grinned, placing a hand on his heart and dropping his voice dramatically, “then that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.”

“What a hero,” she chuckled, leading him through to the living room. “Have you heard from Arya at all?”

“Yeah, she is actually going to be going to the parentals next weekend,” he replied, sitting down on the sofa, cradling his cup of tea between both hands. “She said she might pop through and see us, if we’re free.”

“Get her to come to dinner with us,” Sansa insisted, waving a hand at his phone to silently ask that he carry out her request.

“Yeah, alright,” he agreed, picking up his phone and tapping away on it. “How is everything going anyway? Other than uni work?”

“Yeah fine,” Sansa answered, shrugging when he gave her a quick glance over his phone before resuming his text to Arya. “What?”

“Nothing,” he replied, putting his phone down and taking another sip of his drink. “Just…you are happy, aren’t you Sans?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, I mean, you’re working so hard and you’ve always been a social butterfly,” he responded. “And you haven’t been on a date in forever, as far as I know.”

“I don’t have time for dating,” she sniffed, downing the last dregs of her tea. Robb was looking at her with a sceptically raised eyebrow. “What? I don’t!”

“That doesn’t sound like my hopelessly romantic sister.”

“I’m still a romantic,” she insisted. “I’m just busy.”

“Hmm-mmm,” her brother commented, emptying his own cup. He got up and wandered through to the kitchen, running the cup under the hot water tap and scrubbing a cloth around it. “Anyway, I better go. I’ve got to get a Valentines Day gift for Jeyne.”

“Alright, thanks for visiting Robb,” Sansa replied, opening her arms for a hug. “See you next weekend.”

***

She sighed loudly as the last of her queue died down. It had been a particularly busy spell at the tills with Valentines Day just over a week away. She was grateful that the shop had put seats at the checkouts now, it took the stress off her feet not having to stand for five hours.

She glanced at the time on her screen, grinning when she noticed it was five thirty, meaning there was only another thirty minutes of her shift. Not that she had particularly exciting plans. She and Mya would have their staple television night, where they would watch a couple of episodes of whatever show they had become obsessed with recently. And then she would go and work on some of her uni work. At least tomorrow she had her dinner plans with Robb.

“Is she alright?”

She blinked at the voice, turning her head to see the man who had bought the cleaning supplies a few weeks previously. She smiled warmly at him and he gave her a distracted smile as he listened to whatever was being said on the other end.

“Uh-huh,” he mumbled, moving to the other side. “Jesus Aegon it is just …. Stop freaking out! You’ll be embarrassing her!”

Sansa started the belt, scanning through the box of Maltesers and the painkillers. She felt her curiously rising when she spotted the pack of sanitary pads but quickly scanned them through, hoping he didn’t notice her surprise.

“Sorry about that,” he sighed as he hung up the phone and opened a bag. “That was really rude of me.”

“Don’t worry,” she replied. “I have had much ruder customers, believe me!”

“I don’t envy you guys at all,” he said as he continued packing. “Retail isn’t as easy as some people think it is. It is hard work and you know, manners cost nothing.”

“Exactly,” she chirped, grinning at him in gratitude. In truth, Sansa rarely had awful or rude customers but when she did, they absolutely sent her into a rage. “I take it you’ve worked in retail before?”

“A long time ago,” he chuckled and Sansa felt her eyebrows rise as she looked at him again. He didn’t seem that old. “I mean, it seems a long time although it was only about eight years ago. Maybe it just added years onto my life without me realising it.”

­­­She giggled and he smiled at her as he placed the last of his items in the bag and dug his card out, pressing it against the machine until the beep sounded, signalling the payment had been made.

“Thanks,” he murmured as he pocketed his card and grabbed his bag.

“No problem,” she replied, handing him a receipt as he left.

“Urgh!” Margaery’s voice sounded behind her and Sansa twirled her chair to face her.

Her friend leaned over to look at the till, making another dramatic sound as she moved back again.

“I want to go home!” she grumbled as she opened her packet of soft mints. “Why is it only quarter to six?”

“Because the universe hates us,” Sansa commented. “We’re nearly finished though.”

“Exciting plans for the weekend?” her friend asked as she went to collect the cardboard on the floor of the sweets aisle, which could be seen from the tills.

“Television and uni work tonight and then a cheeky Nandos with Robb tomorrow night.”

“Is he single yet?” Margaery asked brightly. Sansa rolled her eyes.

“No, and stop asking me!” she replied. Margaery shrugged as she placed the pile of collected cardboard on the till.

“Hey, I appreciate hot men,” she stated. She grinned at Sansa then. “Speaking of which, I noticed tall, dark and handsome was in just now.”

“Honestly, you and Myranda are going to get done for harassment,” Sansa snorted even as she couldn’t help but grin.

“He was at the pub last weekend,” Margaery continued, as though she hadn’t heard Sansa. She gave her a pointed look. “Come out with us after you dinner tomorrow.”

“Marge…”

“Come on!” Margaery pleaded, leaning over the counter and blinking repeatedly in an awful attempt of begging. “You’ll already be out anyway for your tea so you might as well come to the pub. Just for a drink or two. Come onnnnnnnnn!”

“Urgh, fine!” Sansa sighed, rolling her eyes in defeat. “I’ll text you once we’re done and see where you are.”

***

Sansa hated to admit it, but both Robb and Margaery had been right. She definitely had needed a night of just not thinking about anything, a night to catch up with her brother and just have fun with her friends. Unfortunately, Arya had been unable to join them for dinner but had promised to stop by and visit Sansa the next day.

She followed Robb out of the Nandos restaurant and they stood for a moment in the street as Sansa dug her phone out of her pocket.

“I told Margaery I would meet her and Myranda for drinks,” Sansa said. Robb nodded.

“Good, you need a night of fun,” he replied. “I’m actually heading down to the Weatherspoons down by the station.”

“Oh, that is where they are,” Sansa answered as she looked at the text that Margaery had sent her.

She fell into step beside Robb as they made their way down the street to the pub that their friends were at. And Sansa saw the man from the shop outside with a cigarette.

“Hey,” Robb greeted, holding his hand out. Sansa blinked as the man handed Robb a smoke.

“Robb!” she hissed. Her brother shrugged.

“I know, I know,” he mumbled around the item as he fumbled for a lighter. “I am cutting down though, honest.”

“It is disgusting,” Sansa remarked with a sniff.

“It is,” the man agreed as he flicked the ash from the end.

“Oh, Jon this is my sister Sansa. Sans, this is Jon, the new history teacher.”

“We’ve met,” Jon commented with a grin. “Kind of.”

“Jon comes into the shop sometimes,” Sansa explained when Robb frowned in puzzlement.

“Ah. Cheapskate,” he chuckled. Jon shrugged.

“I better go and find Margaery and Myranda before they jump some poor unsuspecting man,” Sansa declared, peering through the window as she looked for her friends. She turned back to the boys with a small smile. “Nice to meet you properly, Jon.”

“Yeah, you too.”


End file.
